This trip was equally as awesome! I actually got to see NY and experience it and shop and eat and just yeah lol. Loved it.

Here's a video. It's 17 minutes of stuff so have a looksie and laugh lol

I will have to do a totally different post on all the fabric I purchased. Together we had 150 POUNDS of fabric. INSANE right!?

I lost my mind in there lol. I seriously want to go back before the year is out. We will see ;)

Ok, now for a TON of pictures lol

Watching House of Cards while I wait on my plane. Man this show is AWESOME.

When we were diverted to Baltimore we were waiting on ONE person to get back on the plane. We all clapped like crazy when they showed up lol

All of these were pictures taken at Simplicity. LOVED GOING THERE!!! AWESOME!

That was SO much fun and SO insane lol

Kenneth King This man is AMAZING. Being in his home/studio space was just...I have NO words for how awesome this was.

This coat is made out of WEAVE yall. WEAVE!!!This one is weave and clown hair. I mean come on!!!His craftsmanship is just amazing. I mean AMAZING. A couple items had NO SEAMS. NO SEAMS. REALLY!? He basically created his fabric. Just awesome.And his jeans were see thru...I'm just saying. Hes FAB. That coat was SO heavy!!!!

October 16, 2012

I do DECLARE lol. I did a video. It has been WELL over a year lol. This is all thanks to Toy who hates to read lol. Nah just kidding lol. I told her forever ago that I was going to do it. Making good on my word and uhh yeah. SO easy using my Ipad lol.

I kept looking at her, like, dang, I KNOW I know you from somewhere....then I said, are you on pattern review?!!? LOL then it clicked! She was really fun to run into!! I know I will see you again in July! LOL

My mom played in "The Crown" LOL

And one of my mother and I together...

This was our second set of bags lol. This store does NOT have shopping carts like hancock. You take your bolt to the table and start a pile...well...see...our pile was seriously like half the table lol. The second go round, it wasn't that bad lol.

Here is one just for Carla:

My mom actually has this same machine, she is having it cleaned up and serviced so she can put it in her new sewing studio which is a WHOLE different post. lol

When I got home, I immediately washed and pressed my fabric lol. Then I sat down to take a nap, no dice. I don't actually know what happened after that but I know I didn't go to sleep lol.

My brother came by to keep the kiddos so Tony and I could go to a 30th bday party for one of our friends. TOO MUCH FUN! A few pics:

These are GOOD peoples!! GOOD PEOPLES INDEED! LOL

Me and the B'day girl...yep...she is a shawty! LOL

No bday is complete without shots lol. I don't like being drunk (BAD EXPERIENCE) so I only had a couple. Good thing too because I ended up driving the bday girl home lol. She on the other hand was DONE! lol

They shole was tasty lol.

We didn't get home until it was PAST O'Dark Thirty. I am still tired lol.

April 09, 2008

I should have let them cool a bit more, but I was trying to get the pic before the sun went down! LOL I WILL be having one of these for breakfast in the morning! LOL

Here is the line drawing for the BWOF dress. I finished it last night. SO easy! OMG I did almost the entire dress on my serger. I did omit the sleeves. I love sleeveless tops and dresses. I will take a pic in it and post it sometime today.

I was sitting down thinking and ya know....I'm blessed. I'm happy. I'm loving my life.

I have great, healthy kids (except on the days I want to strangle them lol)

I have a husband who loves me and treats me like his Queen (except on the days he wants to strangle me lol)

We were able to maintain the lifestyle I was accustomed to when I came home from work.

My husband supported me in that decision 150%

I'm only 30 and I have been through more crap that you all could EVER imagine. I mean not in your WILDEST dreams could you even imagine lol.

I have a wonderful set of very close friends.

I've met some wonderful ladies online, and I keep a couple of their numbers on speed dial so I can call them while I shop at hancock when I'm supposed to be "stressed" lol and while I'm riding around with my dad ;-) or talk to them while I'm bra shopping LMAO! LOL

I can PROUDLY say I'm a cancer survivor. I share my story with other women so that it might help them too. It's not something that I hide from.

January 14, 2008

And excuse the hair. I went running today and this was the best it was getting. I took my hat off when I got in Panera! LOL, I had my hat all pulled down over my eyes and that just wouldn't do well when trying to talk to someone! LOL

January 03, 2008

I need some suggestions for a nice little romantic getaway...early/middle February.... NO more than 4-5 hours drive time OR 3 to 4 hours flight time....that I can enjoy from Friday until Sunday. NO KIDS ;-) (GOOD fabric,scrapbook,or yarn shopping, would be nice, but NOT required lol) I have a couple things in mind already BUT I'm open to suggestions! :-)

And that is all I have for today! Tomorrow? Some new LO's! YAY! LOL

Have a great day guys!!!

OH and just in case you didn't know...CHERYL is my next door neighbor! LOL

I
learned very young, from my mother who is a knitter and an avid
quilter. I begged for an i-cord maker at the age of 5 or 6 and I think
there's a 20 foot acrylic i-cord somewhere in my parents' attic still.
I didn't start seriously knitting until about 6 years ago - my friend
was making acrylic scarves and I had the compulsion to make one. After
the scarf I wanted to knit a sweater, so I did. The rest is history

Who taught you to knit?

Technially my mom, when I was a child. But I am mostly self taught, beyond knitting and purling.

How does it feel being such a popular male knitter?

Well
- the idea that knitters can be 'popular' still totally weirds me out.
The internet community is great, but really kind of bizarre if you
think about it. A very funny thing. I've met so many wonderful people
in the last two years through my site and made some dear friends. I'm
very grateful for that.

Do you normally knit alone or in groups?

I usually knit alone in the evenings. I have a few local friends who are knitters, but we don't knit together regularly.

Do you knit with any other male knitters?

Unfortunately no. I've gotten to meet a whole bunch of male knitters in the online community though, which is always nice.

All
of your work is AWESOME. If you had to pick THREE all time favorite
knitted items, what would you pick and why?

Ooh that's a tough question. The Adult Tomten
is one of my favorite sweaters - its big, cozy and satisfies my urge to
wear EZ sweaters at all times. Funnily enough, after a sweater is
complete, the charm is largely gone for me. I enjoy the process of
knitting much more than the final project (don't get me wrong thought,
I'm definitely a sweater freak still by the standard definitiong) I
usually end up wearing the simpler projects. Jarrett
is probably my most consistently worn sweater, along with my very first
top-down raglan which was knit in the pre-blog days. You can't beat a
simple, well-fitting pullover!

Your photography ROCKS, what kind of equipment do you use?

I
shoot the photography on my blog with a Nikon D50. I've only been
shooting digitally for about 2 years. It's super convenient and offers
a lot of possibilities, but I really miss the darkroom and developing
film. Most of my knitting stuff is shot with a standard 50mm 1.4 lens
and natural light.

Do you have any tips for other knitters who would like to take better photos of their work?

Don't use flash! The first tip I give
everyone is to shoot with window light if at all possible. Cameras love
natural light. Keep the image simple - the texture and color of
knitting speaks for itself (when it's lit well). These are two
important things, I think, for people who shoot their knitting.

I
am new to knitting and I'm not sure how many times you have had your
work published. Can you share with us how many projects and what
magazines you have been published in?

I
just started publishing patterns this year. I have I think 4 coming out
this Fall/Winter. Most recently my Cobblestone sweater in the Fall IK,
as well as a cabled hat in the IK Holiday Gifts Issue (just released
this week). I also have a sweater in Debbie Stoller's new book and
Yahaira Ferreira's "Sensual Knits." The pattern in Sensual Knits is my
first woman's sweater - it was quite a different design experience, but
I was happy with the result. I hope to publish some patterns this year
through my site and try that as an outlet too. I have a few free
patterns available at BrooklynTweed - the RedLighSpecial hat as well as
some modified existing patterns like the Hemlock Ring Throw.

What is your all time hands down favorite yarn to work with?

I really love working with Beaverslide McTaggart tweed - the
people at Beaverslide are wonderful and I like supporting local
agriculture in a great stat like Montana. Classic Elite Skye Tweed is
great, but recently discontinued to my dismay. I've recently been
harvesting an appetite or handspun wools also!

Your color choices are wonderful. How do you go about picking which color you will use for a particular project?

Color choices are pretty intuitive for me
- I have a weakness for earthtones and autumnal wools. I am trying to
branch out from Greens and Browns, believe it or not! Every once in a
while I'll see a color on the street and it won't leave my head until I
make a garment with it. But mostly, I just respond to whatever colors
are available in a given yarn and use what I find to be he most
interesting or beautiful.

Are you working on any of your own designs right now?

I
always have a few things going on behind the curtain. I'm working up a
few sweater designs and some colorwork patterns. I never know where or
how they'll end up, but I seem to always need an original pattern to be
able to test out whatever knitting idea I'm currently possessed with.

How did you develop your skills for designing patterns and re-interpreting other designs to fit your style?

My biggest influence was/is Elizabeth
Zimmermann - I know this is true for many knitters. She has a knack for
liberating knitters from patterns and rules, which I am a big supporter
of. I am largely self taught, just from being curious, measuring and
studying existing garments and wanting to make things that work for me.
I think this curiosity might come more naturally to male knitters,
since we don't have a huge array of beautiful sweater patterns coming
at us every season. There are advantages and disadvantage to that.

What knitting needles do you find yourself working with often?

I'm an addi turbo addict, although I do have a considerable number
of KnitPIcks Options needles that I also enjoy, especially for lace
patterns and cabling without a cable needle. I use bamboo and birch
from time-to-time, for certain projects.

Which type of needle do you like better.... bamboo, plastic or metal. Why?

Polished metal, like addi's and KP Options - I prefer
the smoothness. They work best for me since I do a lot of plain
stockinette in the round.

How much time do you spend a week knitting?

I'm
a full-time graduate student now, so my knitting time fluctuates
greatly. I usually try to save a day on the weekend for a decent amount
of knitting time, and almost always knit at least an hour or two in the
evenings. Usually while watching Netflix

Other than knitting, do you have any other hobbies?

Food! I love food and we cook a lot at
home. I also live in a great neighborhood in Brooklyn with all sorts of
ethnic foods in walking distance.

Traveling is also a big part of my life, I try to get out and travel as much as my life (or wallet) allows!

And there you have it! I don't know about you but I am very smitten with this man! LOL I hope you guys have a great day!

I’ve been seriously sewing since I was twelve (I mean using a
sewing machine to sew) but I remember sewing by hand long before that (making
clothes to my dolls); when I was twelve I learned how to thread a sewing machine
and that was the turning point towards making my own clothes.

What made you want to learn to sew?

I remember my parents not letting me choose my own clothes when going
shopping; most of the clothes they bought were too big (the excuse was that I was
growing up and they wanted the clothes to last longer). I also remember inheriting
my aunt’s old clothes (which I hated at the time) so I felt the urge to alter
these clothes so they fitted better and were more like the clothes my school colleagues
were wearing at the time. Building up to make my own garments was the step that
followed.

Who taught you to sew?

There was a next door neighbour who was a very skilled dressmaker. My
parents both had day jobs so sometimes they used to ask her to take care of me when
I was back from school. Since very young age I was used to the smell of new fabrics
and the noise of the sewing machine. I was fascinated by her work and stood by her
side observing everything she was doing. I have a very strong memory: she telling
me then the only kind of well made buttonholes where the tailored hand sewn buttonholes;
she wouldn’t make machine buttonholes ever. I also remember when I asked
her to teach me how to use the sewing machine; she had me machine stitching (I could barely
reach the large pedal underneath her mechanical sewing machine) with no thread over
a piece of plaid fabric so I could manage to sew on a straight line with no effort.
She also used to thread trace everything, like I do. From there on I was self taught
by my experience. I started with BWOF’s patterns and learned the basics from
them. Sewing is a never ending learning experience and I’m still learning!
Every day!

What are your favorite fabrics to work with?

I like woollens the most. I also love sewing with linen and cotton.
I like fabrics that behave well when ironed.

Do you have any notions that you use each time you sew?

The one notion that is common to all my sewing is the basting
thread. It’s a special purpose cotton thread, loose twisted and made of
short cotton fibres that breaks easily; it’s thicker than normal sewing
thread but softer. I think you don’t have it in the US but it’s very common in Portugal. Its
only purpose is hand basting.

Do you have a certain time of day that you sew?

Well, I consider myself a morning person but I would sew in any
time of the day if I could. I prefer sewing in the morning because it’s
quiet. I also prefer the natural light. During the week I sew after returning
from work, in the evening. I usually sew 1-2 hours a day during the week, and I
sew as much as I can during the weekend.

Where do you buy your fabrics?

I buy most of my fabrics locally and in Porto
(a bigger town 60 minutes away by car). Online fabric purchasing is not available
here yet. I wish the custom taxes weren’t as high as they are because I
often feel temped by the fabulous fabrics you can order online in the U.S.!

What are your most favorite garments that you have made?

The Orwell coat is my favorite and I have a special feeling for
this coat because it was the opening garment at my blog! It was very labour
intensive and I shared all the construction process. It was my introduction to
the online sewing community! Another favorite is the red organza blouse which I
dedicate to Els (from The Sewing Divas Blog) because she helped me so much feeding
me with sewing tips and references; I also connect this blouse to my Graduation
day (I made it for wearing at the Graduation ceremony) which was very important
day in my life. The third garment is the Roland Mouret’s Galaxy dress, my
first Vogue! It’s my favorite dress so far!

You recently made your very first Vogue dress. How did working with
Vogue compare to BWOF?

The tracing and cutting process is very different; with BWOF’s
I have to trace the pattern (copy it from the pattern sheet) and there are no
SAs(seam allowance) included. I use my shears and I don’t mind cutting uneven SAs (they
will be trimmed later). I also thread trace all the stitching lines, notches
and relevant markings.

I also copied the pattern from Vogue because I couldn’t bear
the idea of cutting the original pattern but I kept the SAs. Instead of thread
tracing everything I only thread traced the darts and the notches. Instead of
shears I used a cutting wheel and the cutting process was much quicker.

Another thing I found very useful when working with the Vogue
pattern was that the finished garment’s main measurements (bust, waist,
hip) were marked on the pattern; Vogue also illustrates every sewing step,
making the construction process easier to the beginner. This doesn’t keep
the more advanced sewer from looking beyond the instructions and finding other
methods that work best for her/him.
What are some couture techniques that you find yourself using often?

No hesitation here: thread tracing. I had no idea this was
considered a Couture technique until I read “Couture, the Art of Fine
Sewing” by Roberta Carr. That was one of the first sewing books I ordered
from Amazon and one of my favorites, together with the Claire Shaeffer’s
books.

What books are a constant refrence for you when you sew?

I have a LOT of sewing books! The
one I refer the most is the Burda sewing book (Portuguese edition) because you
can find every BWOF’s technique well illustrated in that book. The
patterns I sew the most are from the BWOF magazine so I find myself consulting
this book very often when I try to break down the instructions on BWOF’s
patterns. When I’m working on a particular technique I pull out every
sewing book that features that technique and compare the processes. That gives
me several perspectives and helps achieving a better judgment on what works
best for me. I often use the Singer Sewing Reference books, the Claire Shaeffer’s
books, the Susan Susan Khalje’s books and the Taunton Press Easy Guides. I
also have a couple of Sandra Betzina’s books: Power Sewing and More
Fabric Savvy. These are just a few among many. My last acquisition was the Zapp
Method of Couture Sewing.

Any tips for beginning sewers?

Well, start with the easy stuff and build up from there; if you can
find a good teacher go for it; it’s much easier when you learn from
actually observing an expert than trying to figure out all by yourself. If you
don’t have access to sewing lessons from an expert, then you can buy a
few books that will help you through the basics. Practice, practice, practice! Be
patient when building up your skills; you won’t be sewing professionally
looking garments in a week time so enjoy your learning process and learn from
your mistakes. With time your sewing will get better and better. Observe the
details on good RTW and learn as much as you can from it. Test everything
before you apply it.

October 03, 2007

I'm going to do something new. From time to time (as I see fit, lol) I will do a video blog entry! Sound cool? Ok good! LOL. Anything I mention in the entry will be linked below. Let me know what you guys think! It is a little dark but that will be fixed next time.... lol Oh yeah, and I didn't have the bobbin in the machine right when I let you"hear" it lol. I have since fixed it and will let you hear how very quiet it is next time! LOL Yeah, I know I'm goofy! LOL But it's brand new lol. I am going to wear out the pages in my manual lol

Singer Quantum 9940 My new baby!! YAY! LOL. I can't tell you guys how pleased I am with my choice. I can't wait to learn more about it so I can post an in depth review.

Thanks to Dami for answering a lot of questions for me concerning this machine!